A Pair of Napoléon III ‘Corinthian’ Pedestals, Attributed Maison Millet

Each with square rouge griotte marble top and column. The Corinthian capitals finely cast in rich gilt-bronze. The base of the column with laurel-cast collar. On a vert maurin marble square stepped foot with stiff-leaf border.

France, Circa 1880.

These exquisite pedestals are of the very finest quality, incorporating precious marble and beautifully cast and chase gilt-bronze with the finest mercury gilding. They are attributed to Maison Millet who signed an almost identical pair.

Maison Millet was established by Blaise Millet in 1853, and continued by his son Theodore until 1902 from premises at 11 rue Jacques-Coeur, Paris, before relocating to 23 boulevard Beaumarchais.

Millet produced fine quality meubles de luxe, specialising in meubles et bronzes d’art, genre ancien et moderne, with an accent on the Louis XV and XVI styles. The firm’s work covered a wide range of furniture, including authorised copies of eighteenth-century styles.

Millet won awards in Paris and London including a gold medal at the 1889 Paris Exposition Universelle, a Grand Prix in 1900 and three further diplômes d’honneur and four médailles d’or. In 1902 the firm was authorised by the director of the Palace of Versailles to replicate Marie-Antoinette’s celebrated Grand cabinet à bijoux.